Film splicer



July 5, 1949.

W. H. CASTAY FILM SPLICER Filed April 29, 1946 3 Sheets-'Sheet l WALTEK A. CAST/W July 5; 1949. w. H. CASTAY -?,4'75,351

FILM SPLICER Filed April 29, 1946 sheets-sheet 2 wfg 4 v WALT/sla A. CASTAy W. H. CASTAY July 5, 1949.

FILM SPLICER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 29, 1946 WALTER H. CAsTAy 9M 4J, @Mol/MW Patented .uiy 5, 1945i N-iTEo 2,475,351?L FILM SPLIGER- Walter H."Castay, New Orleansflla;

Application. April.i 29, 1946;-Serial Noifi 1 6 Claims. 1 lM157 .invention.relatesl to lmsplicers and is intended more particularly for use-in-splicingmo- `tion picture films. r. However, it may be .usedofor splicing. othery lfzindsnof lmssuch as:thoseused for carrying@sound records without pictures and i fil-ms: adaptedfor transmission purposes.

Amongithefobjectslof thevinvention is thek provision of a device by -Ineans of which a strong ybutt splice may 'be quickly and easily. .made without requiring anyfscraping of emulsion .fromthe iilm. Another object is to provideffor-makingan accurately aligned splice in a darkened-projectionroom.: Another-- object is 4to providea device in which the-rbutted ends of*v tWo film sections canbespliced Without theloss of asingle frame.

` vention itself, however,both asftoorganization and method ot operation together .withadditional -objects` andr advantages thereof; `Willbe best understood. from the following; description of ai-specific embodimentiwhentread in .connection with the accompanyingfdrawings in which,

Fig. 1 is an'isometric View of the device.l

Fig. 2 is a View in.vertical.flongitudinalsection.

Fig. 3 is a-'view in` vertical cross. section.`

Fig. i isanoth'er view4 in vertical-.crossrsection. r

Fig. 5:is anfexplodedview of a carriage `mechanism.

Fig. 6 is asectional view of a-plunger. device.

Fig. r'i is a View in section on .the line 1.-,1 of Fig..6.

Fig. .8..is a detail View. showing twoendsof lmin. postionior trimming when the vcarriage mechanism is in open position.

Fig.` 9 is a detail View showing the .carriage mechanism .in .closed [position for. making 4a splice.

Fig. lOis a view showing a portion of splicing stripafter asplicingpiece `has been punchedout.

11 yis afsectional View showing a splicing piece appliedto .butted film ends.

Referring .to the construction.. shownin the drawings for the purpose. of illustrating the principles .involvedin this invention,.the numeral 28designates anupper casing member andfthe numeral. 28 .designates a lower casingmember, these tWopartsof. the casing ,beingsecured .to-

getherin suitable manner. The member-Zfhas a rear extension ZSFLasshOWn'inFig.' 4. As shown in A:Figl- .3., theasing member 28 'contains an .electriclight 'bulb 3 0' adapted Lto be inserted carrier: `being spacedirom y `width'of.ther-ii'lrn. whichistobe spliCed. The carriers-t between traoiiways upon Which. spaced .whichrarewh FigsQ, and-when v.th

...the underside' initie inclined bottom 33 osa chute, 34 which .may be conveniently cast "to- .getherv with'.the membferZSf The socket 3l has Ylil .respectivelvareada edltoslide. These carriers yhave .upstandilng y .fangesAZ as will .be understoodtrom Fig. vfthedgwoaflangesfor each ach other by., .the

stripsifare securedras .bylnieansof screws.- The strips .43 extend. oversid'e flanges .of the carriers andholdthe carriers inlplac'e for` back and forth sliding... movement,Y and are .provided with. stop proueetions.JMl lwhichifdeltermine. the extent of backward movement of the carriers. The bottoms of. the-.carriers .als .shown in.. Fig.. 2 "are, provided ,with pairs .of "pounded .indentation 45 f. and 46 adapted -tor..lre,lceive lball's. Hf` andv 48 L respectively I I d upwardlii by` springs 49 and contained in pockets 5I vand `.5v2{exteiriding down fromthe topmembers 38am-3 9." When the balls -areinthe outer. indentations,.,the carriers .are

heldin. positionadiacenteachfotheiz as shown in y n balls. all@ inthe inner indentatons.. .the.carriers .areheld spaced ffr'om each other by. the lengthofabne Vframe of picture film The .innerendsoffthe fili'n carriers are provided withl cutting... or. trimming` d i'es -53 .and 54 Vwhich yare setstherein.asbestsliown Zand may be lheld byscre'ws'r` A.Bacloi the dies, the lm carriers. are provided wthpairs of. 'opstanding pins asshowniri`..Figs..offand 8l Thfepins 55 when l.thereover'l cause l .the trimmed .ends qtlii tQQb'e-fbrougiht .into .butted position when the carriers are Amoved into .their closed position.

` Inorder tooslde-theoarriers back. andoforth ,intoopenandiclosedpositiontthe .front of .the casing is y.provided with. aidial .56 `indicating open and-.closedposition ofthe-carriers. A pointer 51 is carried by. @knob 58;. thelwerportion of. the

. pointer being-.enlargedlfor grasping.. The. knob .is seemed-tette attested-Qta red '59 Passing centrally through the dial. Secured to the inner end of the rod, there is a disk 60 having diametrically opposite notches 6| and 62 in its periphery. The rod 59 passes through slots in overlapping operating arms 63 and 64 which have lugs 65 and 66 for fitting into the notches 6l and 62 respectively as will be best understood from Fig. 5. The outer angular ends of the arms 63 and 64 pass through slots in the supports 38-39 and carry lugs 61 and 68 for tting into notches 69 and 10 in the front sides of the film carriers.

Clamping lids 1I and l2 are hinged to angle strips 'i3 secured to the rear anges of the carriers respectively. These lids are provided with holes 14 for receiving the pins 55 when the lids are turned down. The front of the lids lare IJIO- vided with upwardly turned handles 15 below which the material is struck out to form tongues 'I6 adapted to snap into grooves 11 in the front flanges 42 in order that the film may be clamped flat upon the carriers.

Two spaced lugs 'i8 extend up from the top of the casing at the rear thereof. The rear end of a trimming punch 19 is pivotally supported by these lugs on a pivot 80 which is higher up than the dies 53 and 54. It is obvious that the punch will coact with the dies with a shearing action as will be understood from the dotted line D in Fig. 7. The punch is made in two parts which are held together at the front by a rivet 8|.

A hand operated lever 82 has a pair of downward projections 83 which are connected with the punch -by a pivot 84 as best shown in Figs. 3 and 7. This lever is normally held from the punch by a leaf spring 85 interposed between the lever and the punch, but when the lever is depressed, the punch will also be depressed sufciently for co-action with the dies 53 and 54 when the hlm carriers are in open position. As will ce understood from Fig. 7, an auxiliary punch 86 has an upstanding ear 81 which is mounted on a pivot pin 88 held in the handle 82 by flanges 69 as best shown in Figs. 2 and 6. The punch 86 passes between bifurcations of the spring 85, then through a vertical slot 96 in the main punch 19, then through a horizontal slot 9i, and finally through a die member 92 on the bottom of the trimming punch 19. As will be understood from Figs. 1 and 7, the slot 9| extends all the way through the punch 'i9 for a purpose which will now be made clear.

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 3 two spaced lugs 93 extend up from the rear casing extension 29 for attachment of a housing 84 which constitutes a magazine for a roll of untreated splicing strip S. This strip in use is pulled all the way through the horizontal slot 9| in the main punch 'i9 and out from the iront thereof as will be best understood from Fig. l. As will be understood from Fig. 6, the splicing strip while in the slot 9i is located directly above the auxiliary die 92 and in position to be acted upon by the auxiliary punch 86 when the latter is fully depressed. As shown in Fig. 1, the casing extension 29 is provided with an upstanding socket 95 for holding a capped bottle 66 containing quick drying cement.

The operation and advantages f my invention will be obvious in connection with the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings and are summarized in the following manner. The knob S is turned to indicate open position of the film carriers iS-4| and their attached cutting dies 53--54, and the switch 36 is closed to turn on the light bulb 30. The clamping lids 1i-12 are raised and the two parts of the lm F to be spliced are placed on the carriers with the emulsion side down and the frame lines on the edges of the dies. The lids are then closed and the ends of lm pushed down in the chute 34 if necessary. The trimming punch 19 is brought down to trim the ends of the film. This punch is allowed to return to up position and the knob 58 is turned to indicate closed position of the film carriers. The splicing strip S is pulled through the horizontal slot 9i until the cut out of a previous splice is clear of the punch 19. Cement is then applied to the butted ends of film through the gap between the lids lll2 shown in Fig. 9. These lids prevent the cement from spreading beyond their edges and thus keep the cement from smearing the film beyond the splice. The auxiliary punch 86 is immediately brought down to extreme position by applying rm pressure on the handle 82 thereby punching a splicing piece T out of the strip S and applying it to the butted ends of the lm as indicated in Fig, 1l. This pressure needs to be kept on only a very short time to allow the cement to set as the lamp helps to dry it. The punch 86 is then returned to up position, the clamping lids raised and the completed splice removed so that the device is quickly ready for another splicing operation. It is t0 be further noted that the trimmed off ends of Dicure lm drop through the chute 34 as will be apparent from Fig. 3.

I claim:

1. In a nlm splicer, the combination of two carriers for holding lm, die members on opposed edges of said carriers, a main punch adapted to co-act with said die members for cutting film with a shearing cut, said punch having a vertical slot, a die member carried by said punch, an auxiliary punch in said slot adapted to co-act with said last mentioned die member, a magazine for holding a splicing strip, said main punch having a horizontal slot above said last mentioned die member for passage of said splicing strip, and means for operating said auxiliary punch for cutting a splicing piece from the splicing strip and holding said auxiliary punch in engagement with said piece placed upon cement coated butted ends of iilm.

2. In a lm splicer, the combination of two carriers for holding lm, means for moving said carriers into open and closed position with relation to each other, clamping lids hinged to said carriers, a main punch and die device adapted to trim the ends of lm extending from opposite ends of said carriers when the carriers are in open position, an auxiliary punch and die device carried by said main device and adapted to punch a splicing piece from a splicing strip when said carriers are in closed position, and means for holding said auxiliary punch in engagement with said piece placed upon cement coated butted ends of lilm.

3. In a lm splicer, the combination of a casing, two carriers slidably mounted in said casing for holding iilm, a dial on said casing for indicating open and closed position of said carriers, a pointer cooperating with said dial, connections between said pointer and said dial, connections between said pointer and said carriers respectively for moving the carriers into open and closed position, clamping lids hinged to said carriers, a punch device carried by said casing for trimming the ends of film extending respectively from opposite ends of said carriers when the carrers are in open position, and a combined punch and pressure applying device carried by said casing for cutting a splicing piece lengthwise from a splicing strip and adhesively securing said piece over butted ends of the trimmed film when said carriers are in closed position.

4. In a film splicer, the combination of a casing, two carriers slidably mounted in said casing for holding film, a dial on said casing for indicating open and closed position of said carriers, a rod passing centrally and rotatably through said dial, a pointer secured to the outer end of said rod for cooperating with said dial, connections between the inner end of said rod and said carrier respectively for moving the carriers into open and closed position, clamping lids hin-ged to said carriers, die members on the opposed edges of said carriers, a main punch adapted to cooperate with said die members for trimming the ends of lm extending from opposite ends of said carriers when the carriers are in open position, said main punch having a vertical slot, a die member carried by sai-d punch around the lower portion of said slot, a combined punch and pressure applying device in said slot adapted to cooperate with said last mentioned die member, a magazine carried by said casing for holding a splicing strip, said main punch having a horizontal slot just above said last mentioned die member for passage of said 4splicing strip, and operating means for said combined device whereby a splicing piece is cut lengthwise from said splicing strip and adhesively secured over butted ends of the trimmed iilm when said carriers are in closed position.

5. In a film splicer, the combination of a casing, two carriers slidably mounted in said casing for holding film, die members on opposed edges of said carriers, a device for moving said carriers into open and closed position with relation to each other, clamping lids hinged to said carriers, the opposed edges of said lids being positioned slightly back of said die members to form a gap between said lids when said carriers are in closed position, a main punch adapted to coact with said die members for trimming iilm with a shearing cut, the rear end of said punch being pivoted to said casing at a place above said dies,

an operating handle pivotally connected to said punch, said punch having a vertical slot, a die member carried by said punch around the lower portion of said slot, and a combined punch and pressure applying device working in said slot adapted to cooperate with said last mentioned die member, said main punch having a horizontal slot just above said last mentioned die member for passage of a splicing strip whereby a splicing piece is cut from said strip and adhesively secured over butted ends of the trimmed iilm by operation of said combined device when said carriers are in closed position.

6. In a film splicer, the combination of a main punch for trimming the ends of two pieces of film, mechanism for bringing the trimmed ends of iilm into butted engagement with each other, said punch having a vertical slot therein, a die member carried by said punch around the lower portion of said slot, and a combined punch and pressure applying device working in said slot and adapted to cooperate with said die member, said main punch having a horizontal slot therein just above said die member for passage of a splicing strip whereby a splicing piece is cut lengthwise from said strip and adhesively secured over the butted ends of the trimmed film by operation of said combined device.

WALTER H. CASTAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenices are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,121,765 Schultze Dec. 22, 1914 1,175,449 Hirsch Mar. 14, 1916 1,310,215 Schneider July 15, 1919 40 1,396,895 stolz Nov. 15, 1921 1,535,129 Monacelli et al. Apr. 28, 1925 2,250,194 Gavin July 22, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 45 Number Country Date 169,354 Great Britain Sept. 29, 1921 

